The Text Evolution And Cultural Connotations On XiWangmu

Xiwangmu is one of the important gods of the ancient Chinese.She plays an important role in the immortal belief which has been into being since the time of the Warring States,Taosim religion which has shaped since the Han Dynasty, and the folk religion in Ming and Qing dynasties. From the evolution of Xiwangmu belief,we can look into the evolution of religious belief in ancient China. What’s more,the evolution of XiWangmu’s story is not only related to the religion, but also related to the political and social background, folk culture and the development of literature and art. Therefore, it is necessary for us to take deep study on the interactive relationship between literary texts and cultural connotation based on the Xiwangmu’s story.This paper consists of six parts, the first part is the introduction, the second part is the overview of Xiwangmu’s story texts which includes the morphological evolution, the third to the sixth part is the principal part, which includes three types of the Xiwangmu’s stories to explore its text evolution process and the deep cultural connotation.The introduction part can be divided into two parts. The first part is the review of the Xiwangmu researches in the twentieth Century. Before1949, the discussion of the Xiwangmu focused mainly on two topics. One group of researchers are based on the method for bibliography,such as Zhang Binglin, Ding Qian, Gu Shi; the other group are based on the method of anthropology and cultural studies, such as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Wu Han, Lv Simian. These two kinds of research ideas laid a sold foundation for later researches of Xiwangmu. After the founding of the PRC, the research for Xiwangmu is no longer only a traditional text and literature research, but a major interdisciplinary research topic a set of philology, archaeology, philosophy, history, folklore,anthropology as a whole based on a variety of disciplines and various research methods.The first chapter is the review of the Xiwangmu story text evolution, beginning with the characters, plots and images according to the time order. The story of Xiwangmu begins from the pre Qin coarse records, developed in the magnificent imagination of Taoism and immortal novels in the dynasties of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, and finally evolved into the peach convention story popular fiction and drama works after Song Dynasty. In the process, the Xiwangmu story is continuously enriched in the aspects of character, plot and images; the Xiwangmu itself has turned from a demon into a longevity goddess, the supreme goddess of Taosim religion, and the auspicious goddess after the Yuan dynasty.The second chapter is about the relationship of Xiwangmu and Chinese ancient emperors. The story begins with the intervied of Xiwangmu and The Mu King recorded in "Bamboo Annals" and "The Mu King Biography", after which the kings of Yao, Shun, Yu, Zhao in Yan Dynasty, Wu in Han Dynasty, Hui in Song Dynasty became the Xiwangmu’s guest in succession. In the back of the characters and the plot changes, there is the relationship between religious "God" and political "Prince". In the Taosim aspect, this interview promotes Xiwangmu; in the emperor’s aspect, this interview reflects the social stability. This situation reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and gradually tends to be quiet after then.The third chapter is about the Xiwangmu’s tribute and Chinese ancient fetish worship. It begins with the story that Xiwangmu give the jade to the Shun King in pre Qin Dynasty, which reflects the Chinese ancient jade worship. After the Han Dynasty, influenced by the Confucianism and the Taoism theology, Xiwangmu’s tribute story goes to two different trends. In one trend this story became a part of the Confucian political stories as a auspicious symbol, and in the other it became a part of the Taosim stories. After the Song Dynasty, Xiwangmu’s tribute story was given a birthday theme, peach as a fetish became the key point when other fetishes in this story tended to decline.The fourth chapter is about the feast at the story and Chinese ancient feast culture. Xiwangmu’s feast story begins with the meeting of she and The Mu King of Zhou Dynasty. From the Han Dynasty on, the master of the feast are The Wu King of Han Dynasty and the ladies of Maoying and Wei. In the meanwhile, Xiwangmu began to appear in music and dance drama of the Wei and the Six Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty, which lay the foundation in popular fiction and drama in the prosperous story.The fifth chapter is about the Xiwangmu story and the worship of her. The Xiwangmu story has the original belief characteristics since the "Shanhai Jing", and Xiwangmu is gradually beautified since the Warring States period.At the end of the Han Dynasty, the arising Taoism worshiped Xiwangmu as its chief goddess. When Taoism gradually declined after the Yuan Dynasty, the Xiwangmu worship was more common and folkloric with the combination of it and folk religion and folk beliefs.